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"So you're free tonight?" Izuku asked, adjusting the straps on his backpack. However he'd shoved his notebooks in just now was sitting differently on his shoulders than it had this morning.
Iida started taking smaller steps, keeping pace with Izuku. "I have reserved the hour after supper for our study session. Do you require any snacks?"
"No, that's fine," Izuku said, "I'll eat dinner first. What are you getting for lunch?"
"That's a difficult decision," Iida said, pushing his glasses back up his nose, "There's always the question of—"
Someone grabbed Izuku's shoulder and spun him around. His foot landed automatically in a battle stance—then he saw that it was just Kacchan.
"But rice is—Midoriya?" Iida sputtered. He'd kept walking, and now he stood farther down the hall, looking side to side, then back. "Bakugou!"
Kacchan had pulled him around, but he hadn't started yelling yet. Either behavior was fairly normal these days, but they were weird in combination. Also, he had a really focused expression.
"This is not an appropriate way to address a classmate!" Iida said, chopping his arm through the air, "Imagine if Midoriya had been holding a cake or some kind of beverage!"
"That's not very probable," Izuku said. They'd only just been let out of class.
"Your hair is red," Kacchan said.
Izuku frowned. He grabbed some hair from over his ear and tried to pull it forward where he could see. It looked green.
"It's nighttime," Kacchan continued, dead serious, "All Might is a bad hero."
Iida let his arm drop. "Bakugou, are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, there's nothing wrong with me," Kacchan said. Then he turned to stare at Izuku.
"Are you under a quirk effect?" Izuku said.
Kacchan grinned, "No, and I didn't run into some snot-nosed brat on the way here."
"Okay," Izuku said, turning to walk the other way down the hall, "Let's go find Aizawa Sensei."
"Tsukauchi brought his niece for a visit this morning," Aizawa Sensei said. He was sitting at his desk in the teachers lounge, swaddled in his sleeping bag, head slumped over his laptop. "We wanted Eri to practice interacting with strangers before starting school. They've been playing together."
"Oh, that's such a great idea!" Izuku said, "I hope they've been having fun!"
Kacchan elbowed him in the side.
"Right!" Izuku blurted, "Um, she wouldn't happen to have a quirk that forces people to tell lies?"
Aizawa Sensei's eyes narrowed, then slid over to Kacchan. He sighed. "Of course."
"Can she turn it off?" Izuku asked.
Aizawa Sensei shrugged. Slowly, his sleeping bag unzipped from inside. An arm stuck out and grabbed his phone from the desk. "I'll ask, but there's a good chance you'll just need to wait for it to wear off. Go and get food before lunch ends."
"Thank you Sensei," Izuku said, bowing.
Beside him, Kacchan scowled.
When they left the teacher's office, a committee was waiting for them in the hall.
"Hey man, are you okay?" Kirishima asked
"Iida said you got hit by a quirk," Jirou said, twirling a jack around one finger.
Kacchan opened his mouth, then closed it again. His palms sparked.
"He got hit by a quirk but it's harmless," Izuku said, holding up his hands, "I—don't know if he wants to tell everyone about it, but—"
"No," Kacchan said.
Izuku blinked. "Um, is that—but you can't mean that, or else you couldn't—"
"I don't want you to tell them," Kacchan grit out.
"Ah, okay," Izuku said, turning back to their classmates, "So Kacchan can only lie right now."
Kaminari pulled out his phone. "Hey Kacchan—"
Kacchan knocked the phone out of his hand.
Sero tapped his chin. "Is this why you kept calling out the wrong answers in math class?"
"No!" Kacchan shouted. It was hard to tell if he was excited or upset.
Kaminari finally managed to peel his phone up from the tile floor. He stood up, but he didn't turn it on or point the camera. "Hey Kacchan, do you think you'll become the number one hero?"
"I think you're all morons," Kacchan said. Then he stuck his hands in his pockets and started to stalk away.
"Aw," Kirishima said, "Thanks man."
Kacchan faltered in his stride, realizing at the same time as everyone else.
Jirou grinned. "Don't worry, you're way too late anyway. We already know that you like us."
"I," Kacchan started, looking over his shoulder. He paused a moment, thinking, but eventually just settled on, "Don't."
Izuku started crying. It wasn't one of his totally embarrassing sudden bout of sobs from first year, but it also was spilling out and down his face, making his nose run. If Kacchan had meant to deny it, he could have spat out the same insult. The delay meant he'd strategized, the same way he'd been talking to Izuku.
Sero patted Izuku on the shoulder. "Uh, hey Midoriya—are you good?"
Izuku nodded, wiping at his face with his palms. "Mmm, it's—it's fine. I'm just—happy."
"I'm not hungry," Kacchan announced, scowling again, "Let's stand here and dawdle forever!"
"Okay man," Kirishima said, starting to follow him down the hall, "Come on guys, let's get some lunch."
"Just let me order for us both. That way we don't have to—Kacchan?" Izuku said, suddenly realizing that Kacchan had stopped walking. "Kacchan, we need to hurry before lunch ends."
Kacchan was standing behind him, a tray in his good hand, his bag slung over the same shoulder. "You," he started. He was a naturally honest person, so he spoke almost like a fish now, mouth bobbing, speech full of gaps where the quirk held him back, "Have to do this. And I—don't care."
Izuku took a minute to unscramble the message in his mind, which wasn't too unusual for conversations with Kacchan anyway. Then he smiled. "It's no trouble."
"Go slower," Kacchan said, even though he was the one who had caused this delay.
Izuku headed back for the line, still grinning.